MR. McCLELLAN: Good morning. The President had his usual
briefings before he left. Upon arrival, the Freedom Corps greeter is
Larry Jeffery who volunteers with Merrimack Valley Chapter of SCORE
Counselors to America's Small Business, a nonprofit that provides free
counseling to business owners and individuals interested in starting a
small business. Then the President looks forward to making remarks at
-- or participating in a conversation on jobs and the economy at New
Hampshire Community Technical College, which offers associate degree
programs and 26 certificate diploma programs to its 1,500 students.
The programs included, but are not limited -- well, include not only
technical fields, such as engineering and computer programming, but
also business, nursing, human services and the liberal arts.

And then, in Boston, the Freedom Corps greeter is Kareen Wilkinson,
who graduated in May 2003 from college and since then has served as an
AmeriCorps member with City Year of Boston.

On Tuesday -- one update -- the President will make remarks on the
economy in Appleton, Wisconsin. And that's what I've got.

Q Scott, Secretary Snow today, speaking to the House Financial
Committee, said that the President -- he believes the President would
sign any extension on unemployment benefits. Is that something new?

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen his comments. Obviously, the
President's focus, first and foremost, is on creating as robust an
environment as possible for job creation. And we are in a changing
economy. In fact, the President will be talking about that today. And
it's important that we make sure that workers in this changing economy
have the skills they need to fill the high-paying jobs being created in
the 21st century. And so that's where our focus is, first and
foremost. We've always said that we would work with Congress on the
issue of unemployment benefits.

Q What about the fact that all the reports that are coming in
show almost no job growth? How do you explain that?

MR. McCLELLAN: I disagree with that. In fact, we've had six
straight months of new jobs being created. The unemployment rate at
5.6 percent is below the average of the '70s, '80s, and '90s.
Productivity is high; disposable income is up. The economy is strong
and growing stronger. It's moving in the right direction. There's
more that we need to do, and the President talks about that all the
time. He's got a six-point plan, but it's also important to keep in
mind that we are in a changing economy and there are a lot of
high-growth sectors in the changing economy, and we need to make sure
workers have the kind of training and skills they need to fill those
jobs. And that's one of the things he'll be talking about today.

Q There was a 4.4 percent GDP figure that came out this
morning. Do you have any reaction to that?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- 4.1? Well, no, that's another sign that the
economy is strong and growing stronger. We're seeing sustained
economic growth. Obviously, there are people that are still looking
for work that cannot find work, and we need to continue to act to make
sure that we're creating as robust an environment for job creation as
possible.

Q Scott, can you talk about the extent of the distraction to the
White House and the West Wing, in particular, caused by the 9/11
hearings and the ongoing investigation?

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, the 9/11 -- the work of the 9/11 Commission
is very important. That's why we have been working very closely and
cooperatively with the commission, to make sure they have all the
information they need to do their job. We have provided unprecedented
access in the information -- more than 2.3 million pages of documents;
hundreds of administration officials providing interviews and briefings
to the 9/11 Commission. Their work is very important. September 11th
taught us that we must confront threats before it's too late, and
that's why we have taken significant steps to make sure we are doing
everything we can to protect the homeland, in the aftermath of
September 11th --

Q That's not what I'm asking --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one more point. Obviously, if there's more
information that the 9/11 Commission finds, in addition to what we're
already doing, that can help us prevent another September 11th from
happening, we want to know about that information.

Q Well, what about all the time being pushed into responding to
Clarke? You know, Condi is out there; Dan is out there; the Vice
President is out there. What work isn't being done because of --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, but look, in terms of Dick Clarke, I mean,
Dick Clarke has a growing credibility problem. He stands by his past
comments which contradict his new assertions. And he continues to
struggle to reconcile his changing story with those past comments. He
continues to make statements that are flat-out wrong. He talked about
how the Deputies Committee was pushing for substantially eroding al
Qaeda, not eliminating al Qaeda, and that's just flat-out false. The
first draft the Deputies Committee circulated on the comprehensive
strategy to eliminate al Qaeda called for eliminating al Qaeda. And
then that went to the principals; all those subsequent drafts continued
to talk about the elimination of al Qaeda. Mr. Clarke continues to say
that because of the meetings at the White House, they were able to
prevent the plot -- the Millennium plot. Well, we know from news
reports at that time that it was the hard work of an individual Customs
agent who was able to thwart the Millennium plot, by stopping this
individual at the border. And I think her --

Q It's not what I asked you, but it's a good answer.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, go ahead.

Q -- asking you, isn't that a distraction --

MR. McCLELLAN: You brought up Dick Clarke, and I think that's --

Q Yes, but I'm asking about the White House staff, senior staff
having to devote so much time to the --

MR. McCLELLAN: Let's remember why we're having this conversation.
It is because of the new assertions that Dick Clarke is making that are
contradicted by his past comments.

Q A lot of the September 11th families were very moved by
Clarke's apology. Does the President plan to apologize, as well?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first and foremost, our thoughts and concerns
are always with the families of the victims of September the 11th. And
through our grief and anger, I think it's important to remember that it
is the terrorists that were responsible for the attacks of September
the 11th.

Q Dr. Rice said that she'd be glad to go back and address the
commission again under the same terms as before. Do you know if that's
--

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely, she would welcome the opportunity to
visit with the commission further. As you're aware, she spent more
than four hours with the commission previously. It was scheduled for a
much shorter amount of time. But she would very much welcome the
opportunity to talk to the commission further --

Q Has she been asked by --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- particularly given some of the assertions that
were made in yesterday's hearing.

Q Do you know if she's been asked at this point?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that she's been formally asked at this
point. But she would welcome the opportunity to visit with the
commission further.

Q What about the President? Now that the public hearings are
done in this phase --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the Chairman and Vice Chairman talked a
little bit about that the other day. Obviously, they've been focused
on the public hearings. And the President looks forward to sitting
down with the commission and we'll continue to work with them on when
that will happen.

Q Is an hour still the time frame?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, look, again, he wants to sit down with them
and answer all their questions. And we've said that, given all the
information that they've already had access to, there's a reasonable
amount of time you want to set aside to talk about these issues. And
so I think you need to keep that in mind.

Q Scott, why do you think it is that Clarke -- as you said, his
past statements seem to contradict his new assertions. What in your
mind, or in the White House's thinking, is the reason that he seemed to
make contradictory --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that that goes to his credibility. I
think that those are questions he needs to answer. Even yesterday when
he was presented with those inconsistencies and contradictory
statements, he continued to stand by his past comments. I think those
are questions --

Q But why do you think he is doing that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think those are questions he needs to
answer.

Q Do you have any theories --

MR. McCLELLAN: But I think it's clear that he has a growing
credibility problem.

Q Who was it that made the decision that Dr. Rice shouldn't
testify in a public hearing? Was it Dr. Rice, herself, or was it the
White House legal counsel?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as you've heard from Dr. Rice, this is not a
matter of her personal preference. This is --

Q Yes, but who made the call?

MR. McCLELLAN: This is a matter of principle. This is -- I'm
speaking on behalf of the White House -- it's a matter of principle.
It's a matter of separation of powers between the legislative and
executive branches. And I noticed yesterday that there's a
congressional research report that was cited about national security
advisors appearing before Congress, and I would just point out that we
looked at that congressional research study that was cited, and the
fact is that two of those national security advisors testified -- did
so because it was relating to criminal or personal wrongdoing. The
third one, according to congressional records, indicates that that
person testified in a private session, as Dr. Rice did.

So I'm not aware -- it's an apples and oranges comparison when
you're talking about that. I'm not aware of any instance where a
national security advisor has testified publicly to members of Congress
about policy. I'm just not aware of that.